Outbreak
by I Admit I'm A Disney Whore
Summary: TGWTG AU: Insano caused the zombie apocalypse in the states. With the country in shambles and full of zombies, the world prepares for the worst. The only hope is the reviewers of That Guy With The Glasses to save the world.
1. Prolog

Prolog

Most of the reviewers blamed what happened on Insano.

It was a logical explanation. Only he would start the zombie apocalypse. He was the one messing around with a deadly virus he stole from the government. Never trust a mad scientist able to steal from the government.

After the government found out of Insano's burglary, they set out to find the doctor. Once the scientist was found, he unleashed the virus on the men and slowly it took over their immune systems and killed them slowly and painfully. It didn't kill them completely. They became the undead. Zombies. They attacked everyone in their sight.

The country was in ruins.

Only few remain.

Very few.

They were filming a movie when the virus finally took over Chicago. They were able to get into shelter when the zombies came and tore the city apart. Brick by brick the zombies destroyed the city.

All but two outposts. They called them outposts A and B.

They are some of few survivors of the outbreak. Surviving the outbreak. Destroying all the zombies they see. Trying to find a cure for the virus. Insano was their only hope. The man who started it had to be the man that finished it. Never trust a mad scientist that destroyed the country.

Few survivors still stand tall and strong against the outbreak.

The fate of the rest of the world is in the hands of a group of internet reviewers. The whole world is counting on the reviewers of to save them all.

What could possibly go wrong?


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1:

"Joe, how's it lookin out there?" Critic asked through the radio.

"Outpost A, you're area is clear for a good mile or so. If you're planning to head out to Outpost B, that's a no-go. Group of thirty or so is surrounding the base a few hundred feet away."

"Copy," he nodded, "Over."

Critic was waiting for a call from Outpost B for a good four or five hours. He checked the time. 22:45 hours. He sighed. It was fifteen minutes till lockdown for the night. It always shut down at 23:00 hours. Lockdown gave everyone a rest and a peace of mind. Lockdown kept everyone sane. They were safe in their bases.

Outpost A and B always spoke to one another before their bases locked down for the night. They weren't answer. Critic wasn't going to get a peaceful rest unless they picked up. He tried again for the fifth time that hour.

"Outpost A to B, do you copy?"

Nothing.

Nothing.

Nothing.

He was about to give up and go out himself to the other outpost when the radio finally beeped.

"We read you, Outpost A!"

"Phelan, report," he let out a breath of relief when he heard Phelan's voice.

"Sorry, Doug," the Canadian replied, sounding as if out of breath, "We had a rough day down here. Group of about sixty were down here around 18:00. We've been at it since then. Some are still fighting them off."

"Get them all in before lockdown," Critic reminded him.

"Of course. Before lockdown we're throwing out a sound grenade. That should keep them away till everything is air tight."

Critic nodded, "Sounds good."

"Lockdown in ten."

"Stay alive."

"You too. Over and out."

"Over."

Critic stepped away from the radio and to the nearby window. It was dark but he could still see the rubble and debris from the once Windy City known as Chicago. His home city was gone and now a pile of rubble. His family, gone. All he had now was his friends and he wasn't about to screw that up. He wasn't going to loose them too.

He and the rest of his friends were to find a cure for the outbreak before it reached the other countries. Time was running out. Soon, the virus would spread to Mexico and Canada. Then, who knows where it'll end up. A cure was to be found as soon as possible.

He looked at his watch again. 22:54. He sighed and went for the radio again. He flipped a switch so everyone throughout Outpost A could hear him. He put the microphone to his mouth and spoke.

"Six minutes till lockdown," he said into the radio, "Secure the area and prepare for the lockdown. Six minutes."

He returned the mic to the radio and returned to the window. The sounds of bustling footsteps were some of the only noises in the Outpost. Beeps of machines, footsteps of reviewers, and crashing rocks outside from zombie groups. Thankfully, there were no crashing rocks.

"Critic!"

He turned to see a woman around mid twenties. Black hair in two messy pig tails and black paint on her face in two thick lines on her cheeks. Her camo jacket was far too big for her, more than likely borrowed it from Spoony. She fidgeted with her hands.

"Yes? What do you want, Chick? Can this wait?"

"Just got word from Outpost B that the zombies are going to be headed towards us. What sort of precautions should we take?"

"Where did you hear that?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Phelan. He had called Snob, assuming that you'd be working on something else, preparing for lockdown."

"Right."

"So, what should we do? Get some gun men ready or-"

He cut her off by holding up a hand. He checked his watch. 22:58. He looked out the nearby window over his shoulder. No sign of movement. He returned his attention back to Chick, who was still awaiting an answer.

"Don't take action. Lockdown is in two minutes. We'll be safe."

"Are you su-"

"Yes. Return to your post and finish taking inventory," he commanded.

She sighed before lazily saluting him, "Yes, Sir."

Chick retreated back into the main part of the base. In no time at all of her departure from the control room, the siren blared. All the doors and windows were sealed tight. Nothing could get in or out until 08:00 the next morning. They were safe and sound in the Outpost.

23:00 hours, Critic always felt like a heavy weight was lifted from the base. Everyone was at ease. No one was dead, hurt or missing. Always a positive sign. Always.

He retreated from the control room and followed Chick's path through the base. All of his fellow reviewers and friends were simply sitting around, glad to be under lockdown. He saw their smiling faces as a few of them sat around in the middle of the floor to play poker.

"Critic!" Chick called, "Wanna play a round of poker with us?"

"Nah, I'm turning in for the night."

"Ya sure?" the man sitting next to Chick asked. He had a brown fedora hat on and a camo jacket; similar to Chick's but much more form fitting.

"I'm sure. Thanks for the offer though, Linkara," he gave him a smile.

Linkara shrugged, "Alright, suit yourself," he had a lisp on the s's.

Critic passed his friends and entered his room. They were all the same. Small, fit for two people. A cot for a bed and a few possessions here and there, it was just right for a group of people in the situation they were in.

He readied for bed and soon, fell asleep. The others weren't so quick to follow their commander. They spent their nights playing poker and joking around. Playing pranks on one another, spending time with their significant others or simply just relaxing after a long day.

The four on the floor playing poker resumed their game. Linkara and Chick exchanged a look.

"What's that look for?" a purple haired woman asked, she had stolen Linkara's fedora and was now wearing it herself.

"Nothing, Marzy," Linkara waved her off.

"No, really," she wanted to know.

"Well," Chick went on to explain, "Critic follows the same path routine every day. He never leaves the Outpost and lets us do the fighting for him. He thinks that he's the commander; he can get away with being lazy. One of these days, he'll be forced out into the war out there."

She let out a single laugh, "You're hilarious! Critic would never do that."

"That's just it," Chick continued, "We always offer to deal him into whatever card game we play, and we always include him when we're in lockdown. He always, always, _always_ goes right to bed. He cannot be tired after a day of standing around and barking orders at the rest of us."

"You do have a point," a long hair man shrugged. He lay on his stomach and looked up to Chick.

"See, if Spoony agrees, then it's stupid," Linkara noted.

"You do have a point," Marz nodded.

"Instead of talking smack on Critic, can we finish this round? I'm getting tired," Spoony asked, followed by a yawn. It was a long day. If the insomniac was tired, then he needed to go to bed.

The round went by quick with Spoony taking the easy job tomorrow. They didn't bet money or food. They bet their jobs for the day. Counting ammo, checking the guns, field work, repair work, it didn't matter. Their jobs changed daily and it all depended on the easiest job and who had the worst hand.

Spoony had won so he got counting ammo. Next was Chick with the second best hand and got checking the weaponry. After her was Marz and had to do repair work. Lastly, Linkara with the worst hand and had gotten field work as the job to complete tomorrow. Spoony had dealt with it earlier that day, and he was exhausted. If the zombies were headed towards their outpost, it was going to be a long day for Linkara.

Spoony stood from the concrete floor and cracked his back, "Welp, I'm going to bed. Have fun with field work tomorrow, Lewis," he smirked to his friend.

"Screw you," he sighed.

"Night guys," he waved to his friends and retreated to his room.

Marz rubbed Linkara's arm, "You'll do fine tomorrow."

"Yeah," Chick smiled to him, "It shouldn't be too bad. The zombies probably moved on by morning."

"I hope you're right," he sighed.

"Another round?" Chick suggested.

Linkara shrugged, "I might turn in."

"If you do, I will," Marz said.

"No, if you wanna stay up and play poker, be my guest."

"I was up late without you last night," she reminded, "No, if you go to bed, I will too."

"So I'm getting a no for the next round?" Chick asked, confused.

"Thanks, but no," Linkara stood and helped Marz to her feet.

She interlocked her arm with his and smiled to Chick, "Night."

"Night you two," she winked to them, "Use protection."

"Funny," Linkara said in deadpan.

Marz giggled and the two of them retired for the night. Chick still sat on the floor and yawned. She was tired but didn't want to go to bed quite yet. She lay down on the floor and just stared at the concrete ceiling. She closed her eyes and let out a sigh.

"You ok?"

She opened her eyes to a shagged haired man. He had boyish features yes, but a man nonetheless. He smiled to her with his boyish charm. That smile made Chick smile.

"You ok?" he repeated. He sat down next to Chick and hugged his knees to his chest. He had a British accent when he spoke.

"Yeah I'm fine, thanks for asking Matt."

"I think you're the only one who actually calls me Matt," he smiled.

"I can't be true," she sat up and crossed her legs Indian style.

"But it is," he insisted, "Everyone knows me as Film Brain."

"Matt is such a nice name though," she smiled, "So you deserve to be called as such."

He chuckled, "Thanks and all, but no one will know me as 'Matt'."

Chick shrugged, "Correct them more often."

"Too much work," he laughed.

"So, what's your job tomorrow?" Chick asked.

He rolled his eyes, "Monitor duty. Not looking forward to that. I did field work today though, so it's not so bad compared to today."

"So you were working with Spoony then?"

He nodded, "Yeah. He's a nut on the field. But in a good way!" he insisted.

"Oh, I know," Chick laughed.

Field work was always on everyone's mind. Who would go out and be forced to deal with the zombies that day. Facing the day with a gun and a hunt for zombies between outposts is a great job for the day. Two per day usually went out to take care of whatever was looming in the shadows around the outposts.

Not only do they hunt zombies, but they have to look for any form of civilization that still may be out there. There's always that chance that there are other humans out there. Some not affected by the virus. If there were any out there… If is the major question.

"Who's heading out tomorrow?" Film Brain asked.

"Linkara I know for sure," she stopped. Who was the other one going out? "I don't know who else."

"Snob!" Film Brain called over.

A man with rectangular glasses and a beard looked up from his book and over to him, "What?" he had a smooth voice.

"Do you know who's heading out tomorrow with Linkara?"

He shook his head, "No idea. I didn't even know Linkara was going out in field work."

"We wagered out jobs," Chick explained, "I was supposed to go out but Linkara got stuck with it."

"I heard that Critic was supposed to go out."

"Critic?" Chick and Film Brain asked in unison, followed by a howl of laugher.

Snob smirked, "I know. My reaction too."

Another man laughed and joined in, "I agree!" he had an accent that was a mix between Brit and New Zealand.

"Suede," Chick smiled, "You can hold off more zombies than anyone here. Even Spoony."

"I agree with Chick," Snob went on, "Linkara is good with a gun, but only his magic gun. He's alright with the rifles we're supposed to use. Spoony is just insane and Panda's not too bad either. But you, Suede, you're a master with the katana. Everyone has their qualities with the guns and weapons than others."  
"You can't shoot even if your life depended on it," Suede smirked.

"Not denying that," Snob shrugged.

Chick waved him off, "Go back to your book."

"Where is Panda?"

"He went to bed already," Suede answered, "So did Benzaie."  
"Already?"

"French," Suede shrugged.

The others nodded in agreement. Chick stood from the concrete floor and cracked her neck. Snob looked up from his book again to her.

"Don't crack your neck," he warned, "It's bad for your back."

She smirked, "Thanks for the warning."

Snob snapped his book shut, "I'm going to bed before Spoony wakes up again and starts to roam the outpost."

"Right behind ya," Suede and Film Brian agreed.

The three of them began to head back to their rooms. She stood there for a moment, contemplating whether to look for Todd or go to bed. Either way, she'd see him that night. Before or after she got ready for bed was the real question.

The outpost was silent. Most have gone off to bed by now. Chick yawned and retreated back to her room. She noticed how some of the other rooms were wide open to let, what there was of cool air, inside. With all the people in the outpost, it got quite warm in there. It wasn't uncommon for the doors to be wide open.

Chick couldn't help but look into some of them. She smiled as she went down the line of sleeping reviewers. Spoony was passed out on his cot, one hand falling off the side and his blanket everywhere but on him. He was snoring, but quietly as he cuddled his pillow with his free hand. Critic's door was closed. No surprise there. Marz and Linkara were happily cuddling up to one another. Linkara had his arm around the back of Marz's neck while she hugged him across his chest. Benzaie was happily tucked in his cot, snuggling Beary tightly to his chest. That bear never left his side.

Chick got to her room between Benzaie and Nella. Nella was still up. She heard her down the hall arguing with Dr. Insano over the cure to the virus. It was too late to deal with them. She was happy to see Todd sitting on their cot, waiting for her. He smiled, top part of his face covered still.

"Took you long enough," he joked.

She smiled back and fell into his arms, "Sorry got held up talking to the others."

"No big deal," he kissed her forehead, "We have a long day tomorrow."

"We do," she nodded matter-of-factly.

This time he kissed her cheek, "Good night, Lindsey."

"Night, Todd."

He lay back on the cot and she soon followed. Once comfortable, they fell asleep quite quickly. It was to be a long day.

**(A/N: here is the first chapter of my weird TGWTG AU. I have some cool ideas I want to put into this. I kept seeing Fantasy AU's for TGWTG and wanted to switch it up. So why not have Insano start the zombie apocalypse? Why? Because I can.**

**Anyway, so this is really Outpost A heavy. Next chapter will be a bit too, but I'll add Outpost B into there soon, don't worry!**

**It's kinda dialog heavy for now, but that's just because it's the intro. It will become more action based when the zombies come in, don't worry!**

**You guys rock for reading this! R and R, please!)**


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

The members of Outpost A began to awake around 06:00. All except for Spoony, he's been pacing about the Outpost since 02:00. The insomniac usually got between three and four hours of sleep per night. But this insomniac only got two hours of sleep and was up the rest of the time, coughing unpleasantly.

Snob was up since 05:45 thanks to Spoony. He grumpily ate his breakfast alone before anyone else got up. The always knowing Snob had a feeling he'd be up at the crack of dawn thanks to the insomniac.

Benzaie and Sad Panda walked out at around the same time and joined Snob for breakfast. They were glad the French were on their side in supplying them through the outbreak. Any allies were good allies.

"Morning, Snob," Benzaie greeted when the two walked into the small dining hall. Benzaie had his stuffed polar bear, Beary, in arms.

"Are all Frenchmen always up early?" Snob asked, watching the two sit down with croissants in their hands.

"Mostly, yes," Panda answered.

"Fair enough," Snob nodded.

"Mornin' guys," Linkara yawned grabbing a seat next to Snob.

"Marz wake you up again?" Benzaie smirked.

"She's still asleep," he answered. Then thought about what he said and shot him a look, "Oh, shut up."

Benzaie chuckled and broke off a tip of his pastry and put it in his mouth, quite satisfied with his first snarky remark of the day. Panda couldn't help but suspense a chuckle, not even breaking a smile.

"Lookin forward to today?" Snob asked Linkara, raising an eyebrow to the larger man.

"Oh, you have no idea," he said with thick sarcasm in his voice.

Snob patted his shoulder, "Hey, you'll do fine. You always do."

"Critic's going out."

The other three men stopped dead in their spots and stared at Linkara in disbelief. Did they hear him correctly? Their all and powerful leader/dictator was going out on the field to hunt zombies? What? Linkara simply nodded. They weren't crazy. They heard him correctly.

Nella walked up to the group of guys and smiled to them. They didn't see her. They were too busy being stunned with Linkara's statement. She looked from man to man and waved to them. Still nothing. She cleared her throat to get their attention. They finally looked at her.

"What's going on?" she asked, "You were all kinda… out there."

"Critic is going out on field work," Linkara repeated for her.

She went from shocked, to stunned, to a laughing fit in a whole ten seconds, "No way is he actually going out!"

Linkara nodded, not even saying a word.

Nella stopped laughing. She gave Linkara a weird look, "No way. Critic is full of too much hot air and dumb ideas. No way can he last an hour out in the field."

"I'll put my money down on he doesn't even last an hour," Snob said, "Ten bucks says that Linkara's draggin' his ass back in here in the first hour."

"I'll second that," Sad Panda agreed, "Twenty for the first two hours."

"I'm in," Benzaie nodded, "Ten for ten minutes."

Nella smirked, "Boys, be nice to Critic. He's a good leader-"

She stopped as the four gave her a look. A look that seemed to be half asleep and half 'you have got to be kidding me'. She laughed.

"Ok, he's a leader. That's about it."

The others agreed with that for sure. They returned to a silence. Nella took a seat next to Linkara and proceeded to take a bit of pastry from Benzaie. Linkara put his head down on the table and pulled his camo jacket over his head. He was in for a very long day.

Snob cleared his throat, "Was it just me, or did you guys hear Spoony last night?"

"Yeah," the others proceeded to nod.

"He's been up since two," Linkara said through the table. It came out in a muffle but the others could still understand him.

"Is he sick or something?" Sad Panda asked curiously.

"That would be bad if he were," Benzaie added, "He could get the rest of us sick."

"We'll keep an eye on him," Nella offered, "If we see signs of him getting worse, we'll quarantine him to keep everyone else from getting sick. It's our only option."

Linkara lifted his head and scoffed, "I bet the other base doesn't have to put up with this crap."

Outpost B, compared to Outpost A, was a bit calmer but the drama was always constant. Their commander was just as high strong as Critic, if not more than him. Their doctors were good, but usually were bored with nothing to really do. The others were very good fighters, just uncoordinated. Everyone worked well as a team but was still as dysfunctional as the others.

The outpost was lined up in a single line as Phelan gave out their orders for the day, like every day.

"Kyle and I will be heading out into the field," he pointed to Oancitizen, who nodded and went off to get ready, "For the rest of you, it's cycle day four. Find your positions and stay on high guard. We don't want another surprise attack like yesterday. Any questions?"

"Who's heading out for Outpost A? Just in case anything happens," Paw asked, putting his headphones from his ears to his neck to hear Phelan better.

"As far as I know, Critic is."

Scoffs went around the group. Even Phelan cracked a smile, "I know, shocker. But that's just what I heard."

"Who even started that vicious rumor?" 8-Bit Mickey laughed.

Phelan shrugged, "I don't know. I think Joe probably started it, I can see him doing that. Besides, he is our bird's eye view after all."

"Wouldn't surprise me," JewWario agreed.

"Paul, you're in charge till Kyle and I get back."

"Aye aye, captain," Paw saluted to him, being a complete smartass.

Phelan rolled his eyes, "Dismissed."

He dispersed with the rest of them, going to meet up with Kyle to get ready for their field work. Lupa grabbed his arm before he could go any farther.

"Be careful out there," she gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"You know I always am," he insisted.

Lupa gave him a look. He responded with a kiss on her lips. Lupa blushed ever so slightly as Phelan left her. She watched him walk off down the corridors and went off to her post. _He's going to be ok_, she assured herself, _he always is_.

Kyle was loading up one of the assault riffles when Phelan joined him. Following up the rear were Jesu Otaku and Elisa. They were in their doctor's coats and normal clothes.

"What is it?" Phelan asked the ladies.

"Not to sound rude, but please get hurt," Elisa asked in the nicest way possible.

Kyle and Phelan both raised an eyebrow at the women.

"It's not that we want you to get hurt," J.O. explained, "It's just we're bored every day. Insano and Nella are working on the virus in the other outpost and they don't want us doing something else with it-"

"Don't forget that we can't just go over there and work with them," Elisa added.

"Right, someone could actually need us here."

"We're trying to be nice about this. So please, get hurt. A scratch would be fine!"

Kyle smiled to the girls, "We'll try our best. For you."

J.O. smiled to them, "Thanks guys."

"Good luck out there," Elisa smiled before the two walked out.

Kyle finished loading his gun and turned to Phelan, who just began to suit up. It was going to be a long day, especially with Critic. He wasn't too… hands on.

"I hope that hoard moved on since last night," Kyle tried to make small talk with Phelan.

"They probably did," Phelan responded, grabbing a rifle off the rack, "If not, we're gonna have an eventful day," he turned to Kyle and smirked, "Won't we?"

Kyle chuckled, "As long as Critic doesn't get in the way."

"There's that."

"Ready?" Phelan asked, cocking his rifle.

"Ready."

Outpost A was just getting into line when lockdown was over. The sirens blared, alerting the base that it was time to stay on their guard. Critic ran out barely putting his hat on as the sirens blared. Late again.

"Stop oversleeping," Chick crossed her arms over her chest, "We're going to be running late again."

"Oh shut up. You're going out in field work today," Critic adjusted his hat as he began to bark out orders.

"Wrong."

"What? What do you mean wrong?"

"If you would've been playing poker with us last night, you would know that Linkara is going out."

Critic glanced over to Linkara. He already had the hoisters on for the guns and various other weapons. He had his glasses on, but a pair of goggles on his head. It was the normal attire for field work.

"Ok, so that's only one. Who else is going?"

The group got quiet. He didn't know. Critic looked around the group; none were making eye contact with him or each other. They knew something he didn't.

"What's going on?"

"You don't know?" Snob asked.

"Know what?"

"The other person going out," Chick responded.

Critic paused, even more confused than when they started, "No…"

Everyone looked down the line to Linkara. He was still looking down at the floor when he felt someone staring at him. He looked up and saw the whole outpost looking at him. He was the one that told them Critic was going out. He sighed and stepped forward towards Critic.

"I heard that you were supposed to go out in field work today," Linkara said softly.

"What?!" he erupted, "What dumbass told you that lie?!"

He cleared his throat, "Joe."

"When I get my hands on that little pipsqueak I'm gonna-"

"Joe to Outpost A."

Critic smiled devilishly and went to the radio, "Outpost A."

"You guys should already be out there! Phelan and Kyle are out."

"Did you start the rumor that I was doing field work today?" he completely ignored his main reason of calling.

He heard laughing on the other side of the radio, "Yeah that was me. I told Linkara last night that you were going out."

"Why the fuck would you say such a thing?" Critic's voice kept getting higher and higher.

"You never go out. Now get your ass out there! Over."

"Wait! Don't go you rotten little-" the radio cut out.

Critic let out a deep sigh. He counted to ten and faced his smiling teammates.

"So, I'm going out?"

They all nodded in unison.

"I have no choice?"

They shook their heads no.

He sighed again, "I'll go suit up. Marzgurl, you're in charge while I'm out."

"Me?" she asked, shocked.

"Yes, you."

She smiled proudly.

"Dismissed," Critic said with a slight tone of anger in his voice. He walked off to suit up for field work.

Marz ran up to Linkara, smiling, "I can't believe he put me in charge!"

"You'll do great," he gave her a hug.

"I hope so," she smiled.

"You will."

"Hey, Loverboy!" Critic called to Linkara, "We're late as it is. Come on!"

He gave her a quick peck on the cheek and ran after Critic. Marz smiled to the guys.

"Good luck guys! Be safe!"

The two nodded to her and they walked out into the battlefield that was once Chicago. Marz returned to the radios and overlook of everyone else. They were busily getting everything set up for the day. It was going to be a long day ahead of them, like any other day.

(**A/N: well, there ya have it. finally got chapter 2 done! I have so many drabbles for later on parts of the fic, it's just getting to those points will be a challenge. Anyway, thanks for holding out till I could get this done! Next chapter will be out soon hopefully!**

**R and R and you guys rock!)**


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

"Damn, I didn't think it was _that _bad out here," Critic said once the two were outside. The duo was about a hundred feet away from the outpost.

Linkara looked out into the city ruins. He'd seen it a few times before. Everyone was used to the feeling. The depressing feeling of a whole city in ruins really gets to a person after a while. Everyone but one, of course. The one whom never been out in the open in months. Linkara pulled the goggles down over his glasses and pulled a rifle from the back holster. It was loaded and ready to fire at will.

"Well, if you would actually come out and see what we do everyday," Linkara looked to Critic, "You'd know how bad it's gotten."

Critic had no response for him. In the back of his mind, he knew Linkara was right. Never would Critic ever admit that out loud. It's true that he hadn't been outside since the fall of the city. He couldn't face the memories that the fallen city gave him. All the memories of his family, his hometown friends, and every single fan he'd ever met. Everyone was gone.

_"Doug!" Rob called, "Doug, where are you? It's important!" _

_ Doug ran down the stairs into the basement where his brother was working. It must've been important if he had to interrupt his video making. Doug saw his brother standing in front of the TV. He slowly walked up behind him to see the TV._

_ Rob hardly ever watched the news, so this had to be important. He watched the horror on the TV. It had finally come. The zombie apocalypse was here. Zombies ran through cities of the United States, causing a rampage and destroying everything in their paths. _

_ Doug's cell phone rang. He picked it up without checking the caller ID._

_ "Doug, Insano's plan worked!" Spoony exclaimed, "Are you watching the news?"_

_ "Yeah, it's on now. Spoony-"_

_ "Doug! They're coming for us!"_

_ "They're going to kill us!"_

_ "Stay there," Doug said as calmly as he could, "I'll be there as soon as I can."_

_ He ended the call and looked to Rob._

_ "We have to go," Doug said to Rob._

_ "No way!" he put his hand on his shoulder, "You are not going out there."_

_ "But they're our friends, they need our help."_

_ "What could we do?" Rob snapped._

_ "I'm not just going to stand here and play with my dick and let them die," Doug declared._

_ "You go out there, you'll die."_

_ He ignored Rob and ran back upstairs. He needed to save his friends. Grabbing his gun and keys, he ran out the door to face whatever Chicago had to offer. They were a few miles away at a small hotel. It wouldn't take long for him to jump in his car to save them… somehow…_

"Critic? Listen, if you're going to stare out into space and stand there doing nothing, you can go back to the outpost for all I care," Linkara woke Critic up from his memories.

"I'm fine," he assured. He pulled his own set of goggles over his glasses.

"We actually do work out here, so please try to get your commanding head out of your ass for a few hours and just follow my lead."

"Wow, you really turn into an asshole out here."

"The things you do to stay alive," Linkara noted. His voice was eerie and haunting. He'd seen the outside world, Critic hadn't. Linkara's words stung deep into Critic's mind.

"What does Marzgurl see in you?" he asked, thinking of the snarkiest comment he could think of, attempting to lighten the mood.

Linkara pointed the gun to his neck, "Don't go there."

"You really _are_ an asshole."

"We have work to do," he took the gun away from Critic's neck, "We're already behind in schedule," he began walking into the broken city.

Critic's idea of 'lightening the mood' backfired tremendously. He didn't know what went on outside the Outposts during the day. What went on inside the Outposts was completely different than the outside world. You had to fight to stay alive in the outside world. Critic should've known that… '_Should've'_ is the key word.

He followed suit of Linkara into the city without a word. He dare not open his mouth again. The next time he'd make a snarky comment, a bullet could be in his head.

_I wonder how Marz is doing in charge back in the base…_ Critic thought.

Back inside the Outpost, Benzaie and Snob were checking the clocks around the outpost from their stations. Benzaie checked the clock and sighed. He had lost his ten dollars to whoever won. Soon enough, Snob would be loosing his money too. Panda was a sure in victory for the money now. He'd be $30 richer, not like he could do anything with it.

"How's everything looking out there?" Marzgurl asked the crew.

"Everything looks good," Nostalgia Chick called.

Marz nodded. It didn't hurt to double check with the radar man above the city in his satellite.

"Joe?" she tried the radio.

"No signs of zombies on the radar. The four seem to be just fine."

"Over," she said to Joe. She then scoffed when he clicked out, "Yeah, I have a feeling Linkara is probably going to be killing Critic."

A few had overheard her comment and laughed. It was true. Linkara got into it when he got out in the field. It was almost like his Mechakara side of his brain kicked in. He wasn't trigger happy like Spoony or a swordsman like Suede, he was his own. But with Critic, he was held back from his full potential. Almost like Rocky Balboa in _Rocky II, _being held back to his full potential to fight.

The two men outside traveled on to find any form of life still left. Critic marched on, like a little kid being forced through a store with no toy section. He was bored. Never did he ever do anything this active since the apocalypse began.

"_Linkara to Outpost A."_

"We read you," Marz answered the radio; she let out a breath of relief. They were ok.

"_Just checkin in. Make sure the doctors are on stand by. I may have to hurt Critic,"_ Linkara chuckled on the other side of the radio. She heard Critic yelling at Linkara, but couldn't hear what he was yelling.

"Can do," Marz laughed.

"_Check back in, in about an hour or so._"

"Copy that."

"_Over and out_."

The radio died and Marzgurl let out another breath of relief. They were ok and they had gotten the conformation that they were. That's what mattered. They were ok, for now. Who knows the condition of Critic after the day is through.

"'Just checking in'?" Critic mocked, "You just wanted to hear her voice."

"That may be partially true, but out here, we check in with the bases. We don't always check in with you, ya know."

"That's comforting…" Critic rolled his eyes.

"We still keep in touch at least."

"True…"

"Come on," Linkara gestured to what was left of the Sears tower, "Let's try over here."

"Try to get killed?"

Linkara rolled his eyes, "Stop being such a downer. The hoard moved on since last night."

"Who knows how far though?"

Linkara threw his hands up, "If you wanna stand here all day, be my guest, I really don't care. I'm gonna go over there and work. If you wanna follow, go for it. If not, I _really_ don't give a crap."

Linkara grabbed his gun and began walking towards the west to the old tower. Critic stood there for a minute, trying to grasp what Linkara had just told him. He looked back at the base, then to Linkara whom was getting farther and farther away from him. He let out a long sigh and swiftly ran after Linkara. What other choice did he have?

_The car ride over to the hotel was short, but deadly. Zombies filled the city. _Insano did this_, Doug thought; _it was only a matter of time before he did something like this…_ It only got worse as he got farther and farther into the city. Doug looked into the backseat of his car. A gun, thankfully, sat there. He let a breath of relief. He wasn't going in empty handed._

_ The others would be safe for a while. Joe had his guns, Linkara had his magic gun by his side and Suede with his katana. That would hold the hoards off, for a while at least. _

_ Doug's phone went off again. Without hesitation, he answered._

_ "Hello?"_

_ "Doug? You here?"_

_ It was Linkara this time. He was calmer than Spoony was just a few minutes ago. He was probably in charge of keeping them all safe, for now._

_ "Yeah, I'm right out front."_

_ "We're in the basement of the hotel. There's a bomb shelter down here from the Cold War. Everyone's here."_

_ "Alright. I'm on my way," he was just about to hang up when Linkara shouted, "Doug!" _

_ "Yeah?"_

_ "Be careful."_

_ "I will."_

_ He hung up for good that time and shut off the car. He took a deep breath and grabbed his gun from the back seat. It was fully loaded to his luck. With another deep breath, he opened the car door and made a break for it. _

_ Through the lobby and the downstairs of the hotel was empty. No, there were a few out-front the door of the bomb shelter, where the others were. About five or so scratched and clawed at the door, trying to get to the humans inside. 'Fuck' escaped Doug's mouth as he cocked his gun and aimed around the corner._

_ Within a few shots, the zombies were dead… again. He walked up to the door and saw one of the zombie's arms twitch. He shot it in the head. No more moving for that one. He pounded his fist on the door._

_ "It's Doug! Let me in!"_

_ The door opened and a hand grabbed his shirt and pulled him inside. He fell to the floor with a thud as the door screeched shut, sealing them all in there. Nostalgia Chick ran up to him and helped him off the floor. To Doug's surprise, she wrapped her arms around him in a hug._

_ "I can't believe you came!" she exclaimed._

_ The others nodded. Doug did a head count. 12 reviewers were in the bomb shelter. Doug counted again. Chick, Linkara, Marzgurl, Spoony, Todd, Snob, Film Brain, Sad Panda, Suede, Nella, Benzaie and Beary and Insano. He was positive that there were more reviewers._

_ "Where are the –"Critic began._

_ Snob stepped in, "They're at another hotel across town. We got word that they're safe."_

_ "Chicago has a lot of bomb shelters in their older buildings," Todd commented._

_ "Is everyone accounted for?" Critic asked, pushing Chick off of him. She was way too clingy. _

_ "Yeah," Linkara nodded, "Joe's with them as well."_

_ "Now what?" Marzgurl asked._

_ He looked to her. She was sitting on the cot with her ankle wrapped in some bandages that were left over from the war. She was injured, it was obvious to see. He had to say something to them to reassure them._

_ "We wait," Doug said, "Stay in contact with the others, and just wait it out."_

_ And that's what they did for a week. Wait it out._

Doug's radio beeped and he picked it up, "Go."

"We just got word that there's a zombie hoard lingering somewhere around the Sears tower ruins. We don't know how many though," Phelous informed.

"Thanks, Phelan," Critic said.

"Stay alive," he reminded.

"You too," Critic hung up.

Linkara stopped and turned around to Critic. He was waiting for him to say what Phelous just sent.

"Zombie hoard around the tower," he said uneasily.

Linkara nodded, "Alright. Let's keep going."

"Are you nuts? Didn't you hear me? There's a zombie hoard around there!" Critic exclaimed as his voice got more and higher pitched.

"Yeah, so? If we're able to take them out then that means that they'll be dead and leave the outposts alone."

"I can't loose you like I did Rob!" Critic exclaimed. He then hit himself in the head mentally. He did _not _mean to say that aloud.

"What?" Linkara asked, much more concerned with Critic than before.

"Ignore me," Critic waved him off.

"I don't wanna know what's going through your mind right now," he began calmly, "But we need to take these things out. If you're not mentally ok to do this, you can head back. I can take care of it myself."

"Like hell I'm leaving you out here alone," he began to walk towards the tower.

Before Critic could pass Linkara, he grabbed him by the shoulder. Doug stopped and rolled his eyes before facing Linkara.

"I don't know what's going through your head right now, but what happened to Rob wasn't your fault. Doug, he's not really gone. He's with you all the time. You have to face the facts; Rob shot himself so he wouldn't have to be turned into the undead. It had nothing to do with you leaving. I'm pretty sure he'd be proud of you for protecting your friends and extended family. It's not your fault.

"My brother didn't have that option and got turned too, ya know. He's still out there roaming around who knows where with who knows who. It's not anyone's fault by Insano's. Blame all of this on Insano. He stole from the government and did all of this. Don't blame yourself, and just blame it all on Insano."

Doug couldn't help but smirk, "Yeah, I guess you're right, Lewis."

"I know I'm right because it's true," he nudged him in the arm, "Come on. Let's go be badasses and kill some zombies."

He smiled. Maybe field work wasn't so bad after all.

**(A/N: whooo! Another chapter DOWN! I hope it wasn't too dialog heavy. I tried to get some back story in there and there will be more back-story later on hopefully. I have great plans for this story. The next chapter will focus more on Phelan and Kyle and the other Outpost!**

**R and R and you guys rock!)**


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

"Who's closer to the hoard?" Kyle asked. He was a bit nervous about facing them.

"It's about in the middle of us," Phelous explained, "There's an equal chance that either of us will find them."

Kyle had been uneasy that whole morning. Everything was going fine until he stepped out of the outpost. The stars weren't in alignment for the day. It was too quite out in the broken city. Far too quiet. Maybe it was the zombie hoard from the night before, or it was the tension from the quiet city.

"Phelan?" Kyle asked nervously.

"Yeah?"

"Call me crazy, but," he took a deep breath, "Do you have a feeling that something's going to go… wrong?"

Phelan looked at Kyle. He saw him shake as they walked. He was genuinely freaked out about something. Phelan, himself, hadn't noticed anything wrong or nerve biting. He scanned the horizon of the city.

Dark gray, rusty buildings broken and falling apart littered the horizon in all directions. In any structure that still some what stood, had bullet holes in the sides or holes the size of cars through them. Some of the buildings were just steel structures, not even considered a building. Half, quarters, and thirds of buildings stood. No where was safe. Lurking in any corner of any alleyway or debris could be a hiding zombie or hoard.

The streets were still in tact for the most part. Some spots had gaping holes in the asphalt from grenades or fallen buildings. It was still travelable, dangerous but travelable. Broken glass littered the sidewalks and streets. It was Hell on Earth. Chicago had died along with its inhabitance.

The city was a battlefield that the reviewers dealt with every single day. The wind against the cold lifeless city left a hollow feeling in the reviewers. They were the only ones left in the country. That wind was the reminder of that. A cruel, cruel reminder of being alone. A group of internet reviewers were the rest of the world's only hope before the virus get's to the other continents. They had lost the US, but there was still hope for the rest of the world.

They may be alone in the country. The teams didn't stand alone. The other countries supplied them and kept funding their research for a cure. It was the least they could do.

"Phelan?" Kyle asked again.

"I don't think you're crazy," he said calmly, "But I didn't have that feeling until you said something about it."

"Sorry," he apologized.

"Don't be," Phelan grabbed his gun and got it ready to fire, "You never know what could be lurking around here. Be on your guard."

Kyle wanted to correct Phelan. He wasn't thinking that at all. It wasn't anything to do with a surprise zombie attack. No, it was about their safety and the other two's safety.

"Phelan to Outpost B," Phelan picked up the radio to check in.

"_Read you loud and clear, Captain,"_ Paw answered with his fake pirate accent.

"Stop that," Phelan commanded, rolling his eyes, "We're just checking in."

"_Aye, aye, Sir_," Paw smiled, "_Just be on your toes. Joe says that there are some stragglers around the Sears tower today. Probably some that just limped away from the main hoard"_

"And the others guys?"

"_Other side of the tower. They're fine,"_ Paw noted, "_Is that it?"_

"Yeah. You're doing a great job, Paw. Over and out."

"_Aye, Captain,"_ Paw said with a smile in his voice and hung up.

Phelan let out a deep sigh. _Mental note: don't put Paw in charge when he's in pirate mode._

Inside the base, Paw had a huge grin on his face. He loved doing his pirate accent to Phelan to annoy him. It was working today which made his day a whole lot better. He sat back down in Phelan's chair of power. Everything was going smoothly today. He spun it around to look at everyone working hard.

"_Outpost A to Outpost B, do you copy?"_

Paw smiled and spun back around and hit the radio button to talk, "Loud and clear. You don't sound like the annoying dictator Outpost A normally has," Paw smirked.

"_Funny, Paw._"

"What's up, Marz? Something wrong over there?"

"_No, just checking in on your guys. I got the message about the hoard and I didn't hear anything from the guys._"

"Marz, you worry too much," Paw reassured the woman, "Does this have something to do with Lewis?"

"_No. I just haven't heard back from them about the hoard or asking about it. That has me worried._"

"Phelan and Kyle could've told them for all you know. Only call them when it's absolutely necessary. Don't wanna bother them when they're out."

_"Right, right, sorry. Listen, this is the first time Critic's left the post and I don't know what to do really_," she admitted quietly.

"That's alright. If they need something, they'll call you. Don't worry too much. You have a whole outpost to run to make sure everything is going smoothly."

"_Alright. Thanks for the advice, Paw._"

"Sure, Marzgurl. Over and out."

Marzgurl clicked out. Paw relaxed in the chair. He did a good deed today as well. It was just an all around good day for Paw.

The two finally reached the bottom of the Sears tower. Kyle looked up in awe at how much of the building still stood. Five stories still stood tall and proud, but the rest was tumbled over in various debris fields around the tower.

"We're not going up there, are we?"

"Nah," Phelan looked up to the tower, "Just around and the bottom floor. Who knows how stable it is still."

"Probably pretty stable. It _was_ the Sears tower," Kyle smirked.

"Yeah, you're right. Let's just take care of the bottom floor."

"What about Lewis and Doug?"

"If they join us, they join us. If not, we can handle ourselves and so can they… well," Phelan paused and smirked mostly to himself than Kyle, "at least Linkara can handle himself."

Kyle chuckled and the two entered the bottom of the tower. The bottom of the tower was similar to when they emerged from the bomb shelter those months ago when everything was pure hell.

_"Insano started the apocalypse!" Spoony had told them._

_ The group had stayed inside one of the hotel rooms, huddled together trying to figure out what was behind the noise outside. The noise was the army trying to take out the zombie hoards. It was loud and shook the whole building. The group sat on the floor, keeping their heads down and out of the firing range as best as possible._

_ Luke's phone rang. He picked it up, confused by the caller._

_ "Film Brain?" he asked once he hit answer._

_ "Listen, where are you guys. This is important," the Brit asked._

_ "Huddled up in one of our hotel rooms. Why?" the Canadian wanted to know what was going on with them, "Where are you guys?"_

_ The others began to gather around Luke to try to listen in to his conversation. They wanted to know what was going on with the other group._

_ "We're in a bomb shelter in the basement of our hotel. Your hotel should have one too. Try to find it and just stay in there."_

_ "Bomb shelter?" he was going to fast for Luke, "Wait, Film Brain, what do you mean?"_

_ Film Brain let out an annoyed sigh, "These are old buildings. There are still bomb shelters build in from the Cold War when they were testing the nuclear bombs. Listen, just go there and stay in there!"_

_ "But-"Film Brian hung up before the rest of Luke's questions could be answered._

_ The others looked at him, waiting for an answer. Luke stood and pocketed his phone again._

_ "There's a bomb shelter here," he passed on the information from Film Brain, "We need to find it and get in it."_

_ The others nodded and stood hastily. Phelan held onto Allison so she wouldn't fall from the quakes. Hope wrapped her arms around Nash's waist for protection. Paw helped Elisa to her feet and went to help Ed off the ground too. He then took Elisa's hand and began to walk out of the room. _

_ Tom helped Mickey to his feet and went to help Kyle too. Justin was getting up when a tremor hit and shook the building. Phelan caught his arm before he fell again. He nodded his thanks. Bennett made sure everyone got out of the room ok. _

_ They were all just about down the hallway when Joe finally showed up, machine guns in hand._

_ "You guys need to get to the basement's bomb shelter," he said, "But there are a ton of zombies down there. I figured you'd need some help."_

_ "You know us too well," Phelan said sarcastically. _

_ "Come on," Joe gestured to the stairs._

_ No way were the elevators safe. Don't know when the doors will open and to what. Joe led the group to the stairs and they held on tightly to the handrail. They were on floor three. Four more flights of treacherous stairs to the shelter. With only a few tremors in and amongst their trip down the stairs, they made it down safely. _

"Brings back memories, right Kyle?" Phelan asked as they roamed aimlessly around the bottom floor of the tower.

Kyle chuckled, "Not good ones."

"Yeah, you're right. How long were we in that shelter?"

"At least a week, week and a half at the most."

Phelan smiled, "It was an interesting week and a half."

"Trigger happy Joe was having the time of his life," Kyle laughed.

"True," Phelan smirked, "Well, think it's safe to say we can come outta here now."

"Fair enough," he nodded.

The two began to walk out of the tower. Their footsteps echoed against the concrete. Slowly and faintly, another set of footsteps followed suit. Phelan grabbed Kyle's shoulder.

"Do you hear that?"

They were getting louder as it got closer to the duo.

"Yeah, I hear them. Zombies?" Kyle asked.

"No idea."

The footsteps were getting louder and the duo saw two shadow figures walking towards them. Phelan grabbed for his gun. Kyle went to stop him, but Phelan reassured him it would be ok.

He took aim and fired two warning shots next to the figures. The gun shots echoed loudly through the bottom floor and the shells clanked against the concrete. Kyle saw the two jump to the floor to take cover.

"What the fuck?!" the one on the right yelled in a high pitched voice. The sound echoed loudly through the steel building.

"It's just Doug and Lewis," Kyle let out a breath of relief.

Phelan put the gun back and the two began to walk up to the other guys. Doug remained on the floor for a while as Lewis got up to brush off. Lewis rolled his eyes; _drama queen,_ he thought. With a smirk, he nudged Doug with his foot to try to get him up.

"What are you guys doing in here?" Phelan asked calmly.

"We… well, I heard some commotion in here so I suggested we check it out," Lewis explained, "He's just being a drama queen right now."

"Shove a rifle up your ass, Linkara," Doug spat as he finally got to his feet.

"He's just grumpy because he's out here doing field work," Lewis crossed his arms over his chest.

Doug mumbled something under his breath. It sounded like he said 'lover-boy' but no one was really paying attention to him. The other three just went on talking.

"Anything on the other side of the tower?" Kyle asked.

"Nothing. What about on your side?" Lewis questioned.

"Nothing," Phelan let out a sigh, "This might be a boring day after all."

"Yeah," Lewis agreed with a laugh.

"How about we check the South of the building and you go for the North?" Phelan suggested.

"Sounds good," Lewis nodded.

"Stay alive," Phelan said to them as he and Kyle walked out of the building the way that the others went in.

"You too," Lewis called after them. Doug and Lewis continued forth the way that Phelan and Kyle came in.

They came out on one of the main sides of the city. Doug cringed. His home city was in ruins. Nothing was alive in there anymore. Even the city was dead along with the people.

"You ok?" Lewis asked.

"Fine," Doug nodded, "Let's just get back to work."

"Yeah," he nodded. The two began their journey towards the north.

_Phelan did a double check on the head count. Lupa, Mickey, Tom, J.O., Nash, Paw, Luke, Oancitizen, Elisa, JewWario, Bennett and Ed. He triple checked again. someone was missing. Twelve reviewers…_

_ Phelan grabbed his phone and called Linkara. He waited till the second ring when he answered, "Everyone alright?"_

_ "Everyone's fine," Phelan said calmly, "I think we're missing someone."_

_ "What?" he was getting a little nervous now, "Who?"_

_ "I don't know…" Phelan was trying to keep calm for the other's sakes._

_ Linkara ran down the names he knew were over there. After saying check to all of them, Phelan closed his eyes and mentally cursed himself out as Linkara said the name he forgot, "Chad?"_

_ "We forgot Chad…" Phelan slapped himself in the head for forgetting him._

_ "Well, he's not with us," Linkara stated._

_ "I'll call him!" J.O. piped up._

_ "Hope's gonna call him," Phelan passed on the information to Linkara._

_ "Alright. Just check back if you do find him. We don't wanna loose him if it's possible."_

_ "Can do."_

_ Linkara hung up on Phelan. He had his phone ready to hit the redial button as J.O. called Chad._

_ "Chad?" there was a pause. J.O. let out a breath of relief, "So you're ok?... That's awesome! Just stick to where you are, we'll come get you when the coast is clear, alright? Real sorry, CR…. Are you sure?... well, alright. We'll be in touch… bye." J.O. hung up. _

_ She turned to the others, "He's fine. He found another shelter. He doesn't want any of us risking our lives to find him. We can get him later."_

_ "Great," Phelan hit Linkara's phone number. _

_ He answered on the first right this time, "Well?"_

_ "He's fine. He found another shelter somewhere else," Phelan passed on the information, "We can get him later, he doesn't want us to go out."_

_ "Smart man," Linkara acknowledged, "Just stay where you are for now. Critic's with us. Joe still with you guys?"_

_ "Yeah, he's here."_

_ "Good. We'll all be in touch."_

_ "Right. Over and out," Phelan hung up the phone._

_ Everyone was safe… for now._

"Did Joe ever say which direction the hoard was?" Kyle asked.

"No, why?"

"I just have a bad feeling, and it's concerning the others. Do you think we sent them straight into the hoard?"

"Don't be stupid, we don't know exactly where the hoard is so we can't be held responsible because we don't know where they are," he said honestly.

"I guess your right," Kyle trailed off. Something was wrong in the air and he knew it. The question was; what exactly was wrong?

(**A/N: another chapter down. This one took longer than I expected it too. I was almost done and I was like "Fuck, I forgot to add CR!" I have him planned to pop up at points throughout the story later one and I completely forgot to add him in the flashbacks, I'm so sorry!**

**Anyway, I hope you guys liked this chapter. Instead of focusing on the flashbacks as much, I tried to paint the picture of the city… key word is tried.**

**R and R and you guys rock for reading this!)**


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5:

"Of course, don't you know anything about science!?"

Spoony rolled his eyes. Everyone could hear Insano and Nella arguing throughout the Outpost. It wasn't out of the ordinary; it was just annoying as all hell. God forbid if any of them bothered them during the day. It also didn't help that, despite his hatred towards Linkara, Insano still quoted his theme song.

If they were in the lab, they were working on the cure. Any outside interruptions could be disastrous to the cure. They only went out everyday and kept an eye on the zombies so that Insano could work on the cure. There were to be no interruptions while they were working.

Too bad Nella wasn't doing her job by keeping an eye on Spoony. Thankfully, she put Chick in charge of Spoony, to make sure that his cough didn't get worse as the day went on. To their unfortunate luck, Spoony did get worse.

Around noon or so, Spoony barely had a break in between his coughing fits. He was attempting to count ammo, and wasn't doing so well. What should've taken him two hours was dragging onto be four, almost five, hours. He was counting ammo much slower than he normally did. Chick was starting to worry, as well as some of the others around her.

Snob came up behind Chick and crouched down next to her seat, "Hey. How's Spoony doing?"

"Deaf today I take it?" she joked, "Does it sound like he's doing ok?"

Snob chuckled and looked to the sickly man in the other room, "He doesn't look good at all. If we're lucky, the doctors can give him something to knock him out so I can actually sleep tonight…"

Chick suspensed a laugh and slapped him on the shoulder, "That's awful!"

"But true."

"Even so!"

"Just go talk to him and try to get Insano or Nella to look at him. I need an actual nights sleep for once."

She pushed Snob away with a smile. Snob chuckled and went back to his own post. He was right though. They couldn't risk anyone else getting sick.

Spoony coughed into his jacket sleeve again. His cough was deep and sounded painful. Chick glanced over to him again. He was paler than usual and not looking quite normal as he rubbed his chest. She stood from her post and over to him. She couldn't bear to watch him like that anymore.

"Spoony?" Chick asked. She leaned up against the door frame.

"Yeah?" he sniffled, trying to clear his sinuses. The plan for clear sinuses failed.

"Are you sick or something?" she wanted him to actually say he was sick, and not just make assumptions.

"What? Me? Sick?" he laughed uneasily, "The Spoony One never gets sick," and then he coughed into his jacket again.

Chick rolled her eyes and walked over to him and sat down next to him on the floor. She put the back of her hand to his forehead. He stopped counting the ammo. It felt like she was putting her hand on an oven door. He was burning up.

"You're warm," she told him when she removed her hand.

"I can't help it that I'm hot," he smirked and wiggled his eyebrows at her.

She rolled her eyes, "You're sick, as in you have a cold."

"Bullshit," he declared, "I can't be sick. I can't have a fever. I refuse to be sick! Besides, it's freezing in here."

"Spoony, you're sick. Just admit it. You show all the signs of being sick."

"I refuse to be sick," he declared strongly.

"Can you continue your job?" Chick asked.

"Yeah. I'm fine," he shooed her away and went back to work, "I'm fine, just go back to your post."

Chick looked him over again and cautiously went back to her post. He coughed into his jacket again and went back to work. Chick sighed and went back to her post; she wasn't going to win that battle. The war wasn't over though.

She didn't go back to her post. Chick took a deep breath and went down the halls to the lab. The arguing between her best friend Nella and Insano was getting progressively louder. It felt as if nothing ever got done in there, it was always arguing and fighting. Hardly ever were they quite and working on the virus.

The door was shut right outside the lab. They weren't the quietest scientists in the world. _God, do everyone a favor just kiss already_, Chick though to herself. She proceeded to pound on the door, not knock. They wouldn't've heard her if she'd have knocked.

For once, silence. Then it started up again as she heard the muffled sounds of footsteps towards the door.

"-rotten, mad scientists, bastard-" Nella called over her shoulder and then smiled to Chick, "Hey, BFF."

"Everything ok in there?" Chick asked with a grin.

"Fine. He's just a pushy, do it yourself, failure of a scientist!" she yelled into the room.

"Don't even _go_ there you half wit, _Star Trek_ nerd!" Insano shouted back to her.

Nella slammed the door and stood with Chick in the hallway. She gave her best friend a smile, "Ignore him. What's up?"

"It's about Spoony."

"Yeah," she crossed her arms over her chest, "We were talking about him earlier today."

"We?"

"Yeah. Snob, Linkara and the Frenchmen and I were talking about him this morning. Is he getting worse?"

Chick nodded.

"Alright, I'll go check up on him while that scientific asshole actually _works_ on the damn cure!" she emphasized the last part of the sentence and yelled it through the door.

"Watch it, Trekkie!" Insano called through the door.

"Bite me!" she snapped back. Then Nella elbowed her best friend in the shoulder, "Shall we?"

Chick smiled and the two of them walked back the way that she had come. Nella cringed a bit when she heard Spoony's cough from all the way down the hall. Chick nodded.

"That bad?"

"It's gotten worse over the course of the day," Chick explained.

"You should've gotten me sooner," Nella said, "And get me away from that psycho everyone calls a Doctor…"

"Now you can get away from him and focus on Spoony."

"Because that's much better," she rolled her eyes with a grin.

Chick elbowed her, "Be nice."

The two reached Spoony, whom was still on the floor. To Chick, it looked as if he hadn't counted any more shells since she went off to find Nella. To keep Spoony from getting completely pissed at her, she sat down at her station and went back to work. Snob shot her a look and nodded approvingly. She returned the favor with a small shrug and thumbs up. With that, the two went back to work.

Nella spoke with Spoony quietly and Chick couldn't tell what they were saying to each other. The next thing she knew, Nella was helping Spoony off the floor. She turned to Chick once more.

"Let Marzgurl know I'm taking Spoony to check him over to see what's wrong exactly," Nella explained.

"Can do."

Spoony gave her a scowl and then, like the five year old he was, stuck his tongue out at her. Chick smiled but still rolled her eyes. She stood and walked over to Marzgurl. She was waiting by the radio, desperate to hear back from the guys to make sure they were ok. That, and to make sure Linkara didn't kill Critic.

"Marz?" Chick asked.

She spun around in the chair and faced Chick with a smile, "What's up?"

"Nella took Spoony back to the infirmary to check him over. Some of us-"

"Most of us," Snob corrected.

"Think he's sick," she finished.

Marz took a deep breath, "Alright. As long as that's the last tragic loss of a teammate we have today."

With that, Chick went back to her post. Marz spun back around and sighed once her face was away from the others. _The one day that Critic's gone, shit is gonna hit the fan hard. I just know it…_ Marz thought.

(**A/N: yeah, a shorter chapter. I wanted to make Spoony sick because 1.) I had it in chapter 2. 2.) I thought it was a good idea at the time. **

**Why I have a separate chapter for it? Because I wanted to show how "well" Insano and Nella get along and how they are able to work on the virus. Also, I wanted a bit of a cliff hanger ;)**

**R and R and you guys rock! Thanks for reading!)**


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6:

About an hour had passed since Kyle and Phelan's run in with Lewis and Doug. So far, to their luck, they had no encounters with any zombies which were a plus. Something poked at Kyle's mind though. Something that kept poking his subconscious and kept at it like an annoying three year old that wants a candy bar from the grocery store. He couldn't place exactly what was wrong, but shit was going to hit the fan hard.

"Something up?" Phelan asked. They hadn't spoken a word to each other in a while. The silence was starting to get to him.

"I don't know how to explain it," he tried to explain, "I know something's wrong, but I just can't place what exactly."

Phelan nodded, "I understand. Let's just double check what's going on."

He picked up his radio, "Phelan to Outpost B."

"_Aye, Captain? What can I do ya for?_" Paw answered, still with his pirate accent.

"Is there any activity going on anywhere?" Phelan asked. Kyle listened carefully.

There was a pause on Paw's side. Probably double checking everything, "_Nothing around you guys. You guys are in the clear."_

"What about Doug and Lewis?" Kyle asked into the radio.

Another pause. Kyle held his breath.

"_They must've gone outside the perimeter; I can't find their markers anywhere. It's common," _Paw explained, "_Shit happens. They'll call their own Outpost if there's anything wrong. It's not your problem, guys."_

"Thanks, Paw," Phelan said, "Over."

"_Over and out, Captain,"_ Paw cut out the signal.

Kyle tensed up. Phelan returned the radio to the holster. Now he was getting nervous.

"Ok, I know that happens if they go off the radar, but no way. Not them. Lewis knows what's up with the outside world. He knows the perimeter. I have to agree with you, something _is_ wrong."

"The question is what exactly."

Lewis and Doug were just about to the perimeter marker. It was about three miles from their Outpost and five from the other. They were just about out of the once was city of Chicago.

"We should about-face. We're just about out of the city," Linkara suggested.

"How far away from the Outpost are we?" Critic pondered.

"Bout three miles," he said, "Why?"

"Just wondering, that's all."

The two turned around at the end of the street and began to walk back to the Sears tower. Linkara went for his radio to call Marzgurl to let them know that they reached the perimeter. The radio wasn't turning on. He hit it a few times on the side and tired again. Still nothing.

"What's wrong?" Critic asked.

"My radio's not turning on, can I borrow yours?"

"You just wanna hear your girlfriend's voice," Critic handed over the radio with a smirk.

"No, I just don't trust you," he took the radio and tried to turn it on.

Linkara took it and attempted to turn it on. Still nothing.

"Son of a bitch…" he muttered under his breath.

"If you're swearing, something's up."

He nodded, "Both our radios aren't working."  
"Maybe we went out of the range for them?" Critic suggested.

"Range doesn't matter, but altitude does. Maybe if we can get to a higher ground maybe we can get a signal."

"Is that safe?"

"I don't know," Linkara sighed, "This is the first time it's happened. We don't have any contact with anyone or to find out if there are any zombies around."

"We're a bit screwed?"

"Unless we can get to higher ground."

He nodded, "Alright, let's try to the Sears tower then. It seems to be the highest that we can get to."

"You're catching on," Lewis smirked, elbowing his shoulder.

Inside Outpost A, there was finally silence from Spoony's coughing. Nella was still checking him over, trying to find what exactly was wrong with him. It was a doozey. He didn't have a cold or the flu. It was something more elaborate than that.

A group of the reviewers were talking. No one heard word from Doug or Lewis in over an hour. It wasn't like Lewis to let it go that long. Todd, Snob, Film Brain and Chick all discussed the situation they were in. no one knew what to do or how to even break the news to Marzgurl. Her love was out there somewhere.

Their options were limited. They couldn't go out and look for them. There was only ever a need for two radios per Outpost. Nothing ever happened to them and only two people would ever go out at once. If their radios were broken, then they couldn't use the Outpost's four wheelers.

They could always call over to Outpost B to pass on the information to Kyle and Phelan and have them look for them. The only problem there was the fact that they didn't know where they were compared to Doug and Lewis.

Finally, they convinced Film Brain to break the news to Marzgurl. He slowly got out of his chair and walked over to her. Her back was to him. Instead of letting her know he was there, he simply said:

"We haven't heard word from Doug or Lewis in over an hour," Film Brain reported to Marzgurl.

"What?" Marz asked, facing the Brit. He was nervous and playing with his hand, not making eye contact with her. The others forced him to go break the news to Marzgurl.

"Communication with them is down. We can't call them and they haven't called us."

"Joe?" Marz called through the radio.

"_Go_," Joe responded right away.

"Have you got a lock on Doug or Lewis?"

She heard a few clicks of a computer and he said, "_Just two blips. Those are Kyle and Phelan. I have no idea where Doug or Lewis are. They could've gone out of the perimeter. Communication being down is highly unlikely, unless the radios dropped for some reason_."

"Damn!" Marz exclaimed, "So there are only two blips?"

"_Yes. Well_," he paused, "_Oh_."

"Oh? Oh, what?"

"_About forty or so zombie blips just came up about half a mile in from the perimeter from the north._"

"What?"

"_I can't make this up_," Joe snapped, "_Forty zombies are near lingering around the Sears tower. I don't _know_ where Doug or Lewis are_," Joe stopped. The poor girl was under a great deal of stress all of a sudden thanks to him, "_I'm sorry, Kaylyn. They could've gone off range ya know. That or their radios could've gotten busted up_."

"That's not likely though!" she counted to ten and responded, "Ok, Joe. Thanks for your help."

"_I'll let you know if I see anything. Over."_

She let out a deep sigh. They were too far away for anything she could do for them. All that was left is to hope and pray for a miracle that Kyle or Phelan found them. Film Brain was still standing there. She waved him off and he scampered away back to his post. She sighed again and sat down in Doug's chair and stared deeply at the radars.

"Where are you guys?" she whispered to herself. She then turned to face the rest of the team, "Guys, send out a message to Lewis and Doug. Try to get them to answer their radios!"

The two men reached the top of the Sears tower quicker than they expected. The way up was easy; the way down, not so much. Linkara and Critic tried the radios again at the same time.

"Anything?" Critic asked.

"Nope. You?"

"Nothing."

"Great," Linkara huffed, "We're stuck out here."

"How'd both of our radios get messed up then?" Critic asked.

"I have no idea. Maybe when we hit the floor when Phelan fired those shots," Linkara offered. He kept trying with the radio. He was determine to get it to work.

Doug turned his head to the route that they came up. A hoard of zombies was climbing the tower slowly.

"Outpost A to Outpost B," Marz called on the radios.

"_Read you loud and clear, Kay,_" Paw answered with a smile.

"We're having some… issues," Marzgurl started slowly.

The zombie hoard was getting closer. Nearly forty to fifty of them slowly walked up the tower. There was no way to contact anyone to get help. Critic tapped Linkara's shoulder, trying to get his attention to a more important matter than getting the radios to word. That didn't matter right now.

"Uh, Linkara?"

"What now?" Linkara sighed.

"Are _all_ the zombies supposed to be coming at us at once?"

Linkara turned and saw a hoard coming straight towards them. He swore under his breath.

"_What kind of issues?"_ Paw asked to Marzgurl. He was concerned now.

"We haven't had contact with Lewis or Doug in over an hour. Have you heard back from Phelan and Kyle?"

"_Yeah, a few minutes ago. What do you mean you haven't had contact with them? Did you contact them?"_

"Yeah," she nodded, "I know you said not too, but we had to try! We have no response with them! Joe says there's a hoard of zombies around the Sears tower and I think that's where they are! Please, try to call Phelan and Kyle to find them, please!" she was begging him.

_"I'm on it. Don't worry, Kaylyn. We'll get them back to the base safely. Don't send anyone else out, let Kyle and Phelan handle it, ok?"_

"Ok," she nodded, "Just try to hurry and please keep in contact with us."

"_You have my word. Over and out," _Paw hung up with her and went for Phelan's radio next.

"We're fucked, aren't we?" Critic asked Linkara as they watched the hoard climb up higher and higher.

Linkara nodded, "Yeah."

"Radios?"

"No signal."

"Weapons?"

"No use. Too many."

"Magic gun?"

"Outpost."

"Yeah, we're dead," Critic repeated.

"_Paw to Phelous, do you read me?"_

Phelan picked up his radio, "What, no pirate accent?"

Kyle smirked at the comment.

"What's wrong? You called us."

"_Marzgurl told me that they lost contact with Lewis and Doug. Have you seen them at all?"_

"About two hours ago, yeah. We were in the sears tower. I thought they were zombies and fired some warning shots and they hit the floor…" he hit himself in the head, "their body weight against the concrete and the radios! The damn things are so sensitive!"

Kyle jumped up and down a few times, "I _knew_ something bad was going to happen!"

"_Can you look for them and report back? Marzgurl is really worried about them."_

"Can do, we'll get right on that."

"_Keep in constant contact,"_ Paw demanded.

"Right. Over."

Phelan put the radio back in the holder and the two of them ran off in the direction that they had gone since they had last spoken.

Linkara looked down the broken building they were standing on. It was a good fifty or sixty foot drop into some debris. They could slide most of the way down on the building, but then land right into the debris from the building. That could work…

"Why the fuck did you want to come up _here_?" Critic snapped at the larger man.

"I don't wanna hear it from you," Linkara jabbed a finger in his chest, "This is your first time outside in months! At least I know what we're doing."

"Ok, smart guy," he pushed his hand away from his chest, "How do you suppose we get out of this mess?"

"I have a theory…" Linkara trailed off.

"_Outpost B to Outpost A, ya there Marz?"_

"Loud and clear!" she couldn't've grabbed the radio any faster, "What do you know?"

"_Phelous and Oan found them earlier and they're going to look for them now. It may or may not be their faults that their radios broke."_

"What do you mean?"

"_You know how sensitive the radios are? Well, the two mistaken Lewis and Doug as zombies and fired some warning shots to make sure they weren't zombies and they hit the floor and their weight against the concrete with the radios… Yeah. But don't worry! They're looking for them now."_

"Alright," she took a seat, comprehending all that Paw had told her.

_"We'll find them. Don't worry._"

"Not get eaten by them I hope" he scoffed.

"We slide down the building."

"Into some pointy objects? Are you stupid?"

"Do you wanna get eaten by zombies?"

"No…"

"Then jump!"

Critic held his breath, closed his eyes and jumped. The zombies were getting closer. Linkara crossed himself on the chest and jumped after Critic. It was the only way to save themselves.


End file.
